Jeb Bush called on Republicans in the Senate to stop holding up the confirmation of the nomination of Loretta Lynch, President Barack Obama's nominee for U.S. attorney general.

Lynch has been waiting for 160 days for congress to take a vote on her nomination, which is more than five times the amount of time that Janet Reno waited to be confirmed as President Bill Clinton's attorney general and three times the length of days that John Ashcroft waited to be confirmed as the attorney general under the George W. Bush Administration, reports The Huffington Post.

However, a majority of the Republicans in the Senate have stalled her confirmation process over a sex-trafficking bill that includes a controversial abortion provision.

"I think presidents have the right to pick their team," Bush said, according to The New York Times.

The former Florida governor also took a jab at current Attorney General Eric Holder, noting that Republicans should confirm Lynch in order to remove Holder from the position.

"If someone is supportive of the president's policies, whether you agree with them or not, there should be some deference to the executive," Bush said, reports Time. "It should not always be partisan."

Earlier this week, civil rights activists announced that they are launching a hunger strike to help Lynch move closer to becoming Holder's successor.

An advocacy group founded by the Rev. Al Sharpton and female civil-rights leaders dubbed the hunger strike as the "Confirm Loretta Lynch Fast."

"As long as the Senate refuses to take 15 minutes to confirm someone for Attorney General that they have already confirmed twice for U.S. Attorney, [National Action Network and its allies] will do everything in our power to draw attention to this completely unfair and unnecessary delay to vote to confirm Loretta Lynch," said Sharpton, who founded NAN, on Wednesday, according to Politico.

"We stand with Loretta Lynch and are so in support of this cause that we are willing to sacrifice our daily meals to impress upon the U.S. Senate that it's time to call a vote," NAN executive director Janaye Ingram said.

Lynch, the current U.S. attorney in Brooklyn, New York, would be the first African-American woman to serve in the position.